Interview with Millie Bobby Brown: 18 Things I Learned at 18

When you look at Millie Bobby Brown’s bio, you’d be forgiven for thinking she’s had enough life experience for someone four or five decades from now, but when you know she turns 18 today (February 19), it’s mind-blowing. Having just reached adulthood, she has achieved and then some in a multi-pronged career as an award-winning actor and cult character Eleven in Stranger Things; producer of the film Enola Holmes with a follow-up this year; appointed the youngest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador; cosmetics entrepreneur and founder of makeup and skin care line Florence By Mills; not to mention an all-around inspirational role model for Gen-Z.

And as we chat on Zoom from her family home in the UK, we can reveal that she’s just as pleasant and impressive in person (as she is on paper). Warm and friendly, she’s happy to discuss everything from her new hair, her British roots (and the fact that it’s fish and chip Fridays as we speak), and share the wisdom she’s gleaned along her incredible life journey this way away.

Here are her top “18 Things I Learned By 18”…

1. Women give me strength

“Young girls, women and especially the women in my family make me feel the strongest. My grandmother made me feel the strongest and I learned a lot from her.

2. You can’t be good at everything, sometimes you have to fail

“Something that my Nan preached was that failure is part of the process and that was something that I really didn’t listen to for a very long time and then I realized it after going through my own failures. I was always like, well, well, well, and then I got it. Not so much through my career, but mostly just being a girl and understanding that you can’t be good at everything.

3. Enjoy the ride

“My Nan was also an advocate for the process rather than just trying to get the end result. I learned that you can thrive in other areas of your life while working and progressing in other areas.

4. Indeed express emotions

“Being an actor, I learned how to channel emotions and express them authentically. I think so many times in life people express their emotions but they don’t really hit on exactly what the problem is. With acting, it’s your job, so you have to hit the spot! You need to directly hit the emotion you are trying to portray. I learned a lot from it too.

5. When blending brows, reach for hairspray

“This isn’t really something you even have to say or do, but something I learned before creating Florence By Mills Brow Gel is that hairspray works to tame your brows. Fortunately, you don’t have to now!

6. It always it’s worth removing your makeup before going to sleep

“So many times I’ve fallen asleep at awards shows and just haven’t taken my makeup off. When I was little I think I did it the most, but now I know you have cleaning [Florence By Mills Clean Magic Face Wash], then moisturize, and if you have spots that need more attention, you should take care of them immediately. Otherwise, you will see the consequences in the morning.

7. Embrace happy accidents

“I think I’ve learned the most in my entrepreneurial career simply because I never knew how much goes into creating a business and also maintaining it. Right now you think that everything is going to be very easy and flowing and everything is going according to plan, but most of the time it isn’t and then happy accidents happen. And I learned to try to embrace all these happy accidents. I also met so many new people that I really want to be a part of the Florence By Mills family. And that’s what I really enjoyed along the way.

8. The British are the best at banter

“My parents and my whole family are very English and something that has stuck with me is the British banter. I have never lost my banter, which most of my friends here and in America enjoy.

9. Honesty is a good trait

“I am quite honest. I’m brutally honest. It’s an English thing, I think. We’re just very open and honest sometimes and that’s something I definitely carry with me. I think it’s a good trait to have as well.

10. Kiss negativity goodbye

“Every day most of the time I’ll say this Hooponopono prayer and it’s ‘I love you.’ I’m sorry. Thank you.” I think this is a really nice daily mantra to help you release any negative blockages in your aura. So if it’s a person, place, thing or feeling – you can release it by saying: “I love you and I’m sorry. Thank you. I forgive you too.

11. Short hair is much easier

“It’s something I learned, and after shaving my head when I was 10, I realized what the most extreme version of ‘short’ was, and I got addicted to it. So now every time my hair gets long I cut it short again so I don’t have to deal with long hair. But I think what’s really fun about short hair is that you can have a long hair moment. You can just put on wigs and really have a lot of fun with it.. Whereas when you have long hair it’s really hard to go short. I think the short one is better, it’s like a clean base.